anyone purchase airfare through yahoo?
 

I've never gotten air fare through yahoo before but for some strange reason (anyone know how/ why?) I'm finding the best fare that way. Its through the carrier but came up through the Yahoo best fare alert. Of course they're e-tickets, which is also not my favorite, but the price is right. Should I grab them? Comments anyone? Thanks in advance.

I often book through Yahoo Travel. I just bought a ticket last week for a trip for my DH through Yahoo. I like being able to search for flights using the My Dates Are Flexible option, and the way I can access my itineraries.

wanderluster, I have had nothing but etickets in ages. I think paper tickets are a thing of the past. Haven't used Yahoo but the eticket part wouldn't bother me.

Thanks for the replies.
I've used etickets also,still don't like them, but haven't through Yahoo.
Still hesitant of any other way than through the carrier and FF sites.
Still like having a bit more control and flexibility, if you can even call it that anymore! :)

Well wanderluster, I too get my tickets through the airline I am using so sure understand your thinking.

It seems to me that when I read of travelers problems it is always when they have purchased their tickets elsewhere. That may not be the case but it sure seems so to me.

So I do not know what to tell you. Is there a big price difference?

I guess I am not the best bargain hunter in the world but almost without exception what I do buy I am satisfied with. Good luck with your choices. Now that is not much help, is it? But seriously, whatever choice you make I sure hope turns out to be the best one.

If you scroll down through the messages just a bit, I just post a question a little different than yours about why Yahoo changes the pricing from your original search once you select your choice flight/air/hotel.

All I can say is, we've booked travel through Yahoo, including air with no problems, but many, many times when we are vacation searching (could be air/hotel/flight any or all), they tend to have a habit of changing the pricing even on "best buy" choices once you select the price. For example, I saw a hotel in DC, it was priced at $160, lowest price anywhere and tagged as a best buy. After I clicked on it to select, in the following screen, the $160 price was GONE and replaced by $209. If I had not been paying attention and continued to go through the reservation process, I would have been had. So just pay attention once you make your selection from their site that the pricing remains the same throughout the reservation process.

P.S. I emailed Yahoo yesterday about the pricing changes, and they stated that hotels and airlines change their pricing frequently throughout the day, which accounts for the changes...but I don't understand why they can show those "changes" correctly on the reservations page but not on the search results page.

I'm not sure I understand the "Its through the carrier but came up through the Yahoo best fare alert" comment.

If it's "through the carrier" then you're buying from the airline, yes? Often, buying from a third party there are transaction fees that will bring the price to the same or more than buying it directly from the airline. If you're really concerned, phone the airline and ask whether they have a fare to match what you're seeing on yahoo.

I think I did buy a ticket from Yahoo once for my husband. I found I couldn't reserve a seat for him ahead of time online or get him a boarding pass online. (Otherwise, it was fine).

(The eticket is a non-issue in my mind. As long as you have a printer attached to your computer and can print out the comfirmation info you're fine.)

I have never purchased through Yahoo though I often use their travel search engine for comparing airfares. So far, I've been able to find a lower price by going directly to the cheapest airline's site (Yahoo adds a service fee for tickets). I do have a complicated flight plan in the future that so far, I've found the best price on Yahoo. So I may pruchase through them.

As for paper tickets, what are they? Kidding! Haven't seen paper tickets in years. Last time was when traveling on FF tickets and the airline was insisting on paper. I wanted e-tickets!

Having never checked Yahoo before, I just typed in an itinerary I'm researching for spring. The Travelocity logo appears on the site, so it seems that Yahoo is no different from Travelocity.

Yes, the Yahoo travel website ends up being Travelocity when the search process begins.

Several years ago--2001--I bought tkts on Yahoo in August on one of their one day sales for Thanksgiving travel. I suddenly needed surgery in early Nov and they were *extremely unhelpful* when I needed to cancel/change them. I was told that the airlines did not allow them to recognize any extenuating circumstances. After that experience, I only buy directly through an airline's website. If only the airline has the authority to deal w/problems, then why would I buy from the organization that cannot offer any service at the time that service is needed?